'It's an RSS/BJP event': Sonia Gandhi, Kharge, Adhir won't attend Ayodhya Ram temple consecration ceremony, says Congress

The Congress on Wednesday said that the party's Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury will not attend the Ram temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya on January 22. In a statement, Congress communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh said that Lord Ram is worshipped by millions in our country and religion is a personal matter, but the RSS/BJP have long made a political project of the temple in Ayodhya. 

Ramesh said that the inauguration of the "incomplete temple" by the leaders of the BJP and the RSS has been obviously brought forward "for electoral gain". "While abiding by the 2019 Supreme Court judgment and honouring the sentiments of millions who revere Lord Ram, Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Smt. Sonia Gandhi and Shri Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury have respectfully declined the invitation to what is clearly an RSS/BJP event," he said. 

On Tuesday, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, who has also been invited for the ceremony, said he did not need an invitation to go to Ayodhya. Sukhu said he would visit Ayodhya after the 'pran pratistha' ceremony. "Lord Ram is 'Maryada Purushottam' and our life starts with the name of Ram. We would go to Ayodhya after the 'pran pratistha' ceremony," he told the media in Shimla. 

The chief minister's remarks came a day after Himachal Pradesh minister Vikramaditya Singh, son of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh and state party chief Pratibha Singh, said he would attend the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Vikramaditya thanked the RSS and the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) for the invitation to attend Ram Lalla’s 'pran pratistha' ceremony. 

"This is not a political issue and I consider myself fortunate to be among the few invitees from Himachal Pradesh and thanked the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Vishva Hindu Parishad for giving this honour to me and my family," he said. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a part of this historic day and as a Hindu having faith in 'Dev Samaj', it is my responsibility to be present on the occasion and witness the 'Pran Pratistha' of Lord Ram."